States take immigration into their own hands.

http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2010/05/11/governor-patersons-pardon-panel-sets-a-better-example-than-arizona/

Here, a liberal article applauds Governor Paterson for taking immigration policies into his own hands. The writer pits Patterson's pardon panel against the more conservative approach to immigration reform put in place by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. (Brewer's signing of SB 1070 is the policy we talked about in class which requires immigrants to carry papers.)

Paterson's review panel helps him to make more personal decisions about the deportation of legal immigrants who have commit a crime in the past. For example; he takes into account the severity of the crime and how well the person has contributed to society after serving time. In Arizona however the laws have been changed to criminalize undocumented people. The writer commends Patterson for not changing the law as blatantly as Brewer did. Instead Paterson utilizes his power to make pardons in favor of immigrants who have changed their ways, but are still being prosecuted by the rigid federal immigration laws.

Do you think Patterson is doing a good thing by allowing legal immigrant criminals to be heard? Should Brewer have the right to enforce a more strict policy for policing undocumented persons?